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She was only 4 centimeters short of winning 75,000 Euro as Benelux Next Top Model. But Rosalinde was “too fat”: in spite of a Spartan regimen, her hipsize did not go under 94 centimeters. With a size 38 (US 8), you’re considered a “plus size model”. So poor Rosalinde could kiss her pretty prize goodbye.
Every year, it flares again, the debate about size 0 models. Some designers have a few “fuller” women showing their creations on the catwalk. Here and there, you see some plus size models in ad campaigns. And then? Then the world’s biggest dream factory, the fashion industry, is back to business as usual.
And us women? We pay the price. 75 % of Dutch women are unhappy about their bodies. So we shop, train and pamper ourselves like there is no tomorrow. If money were not an issue, two-thirds of all women would undergo plastic surgery. No pain, no gain, right?
I once walked through Paris on bleeding feet. Those new shoes that I was going to break in, turned out to be a tad too small. Ridiculous? How about this: I’ve also been at a salon with serious burns on my scalp, cause the dye was left in for too long. And what about the costs of relaxing African hair? The American black hair industry is a 9 billion dollar business.
Beauty has its price. An average woman eats 7 pounds of lipstick within her lifetime. We spend over 700 Euros per year on clothes. Not to mention the capital we invest in salons, creams and nailpolish. If we would spend all that money on therapy, I bet we’d feel a lot better about ourselves.